Capture the MO*MIT - More Of MIT... It is important to venture back in time, to search for evidence of the role and experience of blacks since the Institute opened its doors in 1865. The project’s continuing objective is to place the black experience at MIT in its full and appropriate context, by researching and disseminating a varied set of materials and by exposing a larger community of interests — both inside and outside MIT — to this rich, historically significant legacy.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

An Esteemed and Exceptional Friend

Dr. Ronald E. McNair

PERSONAL DATA: Born October 21, 1950,
in Lake City, South Carolina. Homegoing January 28, 1986. He is
survived by his wife Cheryl, and two children.

EDUCATION: Graduated from Carver High
School, Lake City, South Carolina, in 1967; received a bachelor of
science degree in Physics from North Carolina A&T State
University in 1971 and a doctor of philosophy in Physics from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976; presented an honorary
doctorate of Laws from North Carolina A&T State University in
1978, an honorary doctorate of Science from Morris College in 1980,
and an honorary doctorate of science from the University of South
Carolina in 1984.

ORGANIZATIONS: Member of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Optical
Society, the American Physical Society (APS), the APS Committee on
Minorities in Physics, the North Carolina School of Science and
Mathematics Board of Trustees, the MIT Corporation Visiting
Committee, Omega Psi Phi, and a visiting lecturer in Physics at Texas
Southern University.

EXPERIENCE: While at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Dr. McNair performed some of the earliest
development of chemical HF/DF and high-pressure CO lasers. His later
experiments and theoretical analysis on the interaction of intense
CO2 laser radiation with molecular gases provided new understandings
and applications for highly excited polyatomic molecules.

In 1975, he studied laser physics with
many authorities in the field at Ecole Dete Theorique de Physique,
Les Houches, France. He published several papers in the areas of
lasers and molecular spectroscopy and gave many presentations in the
United States and abroad.

Following graduation from MIT in 1976,
he became a staff physicist with Hughes Research Laboratories in
Malibu, California. His assignments included the development of
lasers for isotope separation and photochemistry utilizing non-linear
interactions in low-temperature liquids and optical pumping
techniques. He also conducted research on electro-optic laser
modulation for satellite-to-satellite space communications, the
construction of ultra-fast infrared detectors, ultraviolet
atmospheric remote sensing, and the scientific foundations of the
martial arts.

NASA EXPERIENCE: Selected as an
astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978, he completed a 1-year
training and evaluation period in August 1979, qualifying him for
assignment as a mission specialist astronaut on Space Shuttle flight
crews.

He first flew as a mission specialist
on STS 41-B which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on
February 3, 1984. The crew included spacecraft commander, Mr. Vance
Brand, the pilot, Commander Robert L. Gibson, and fellow mission
specialists, Captain Bruce McCandless II, and Lt. Col. Robert L.
Stewart. The flight accomplished the proper shuttle deployment of two
Hughes 376 communications satellites, as well as the flight testing
of rendezvous sensors and computer programs. This mission marked the
first flight of the Manned Maneuvering Unit and the first use of the
Canadian arm (operated by McNair) to position EVA crewman around
Challengers payload bay. Included were the German SPAS-01 Satellite,
acoustic levitation and chemical separation experiments, the Cinema
360 motion picture filming, five Getaway Specials, and numerous
mid-deck experiments -- all of which Dr. McNair assumed primary
responsibility. Challenger culminated in the first landing on the
runway at Kennedy Space Center on February 11, 1984. With the
completion of this flight, he logged a total of 191 hours in space.

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UNESCO Historical Definition of the term "Blacks"

Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop's book, "The African Origin of Civilization: Myth of Reality" uses the noun "blacks" on numerous occasions to identify the indigenous people of "KMT", (Ancient Egypt). KMT's english translation is defined as "land of the blacks" by Dr. Diop since its publication in 1955. The term is also used collectively in referring to people of the African diaspora.

Almost 20 years later, Dr. Diop along with Dr. Theophile Obenga (linguist), presented at the Cairo Symposium sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The Symposium was held at Paris, France from January 28 -- February 3, 1974, and convened 20 of the world's top Egyptologists to debate the race of the founders of ancient Egyptian civilization. Dr. Diop then became regarded as the leading scholar on African civilization studies in the French and English speaking world.

The original transcript (136 pages) of the symposium can be found at the following link:

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0003/000328/032875eo.pdf

About

The Blacks at MIT History Project
mission is to research, identify, and produce scholarly curatorial
content on the black experience at MIT since opening its doors in
1865. This Project was founded and is directed by Dr. Clarence G.
Williams, Adjunct Professor Emeritus of Urban Studies + Planning and Former Special Assistant to the President, MIT. He is an
innovator in higher education for four decades and a recipient of a
Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration and Counseling Psychology.

The project’s continuing objective is
to place the black experience at MIT in its full and appropriate
context, by researching and disseminating a varied set of materials.
It is also exposing a larger community of interests — both inside
and outside MIT — to this rich and historically significant legacy.